Spoken By Supreme Master Ching Hai,
Hsihu Center, Formosa (Originally In Chinese) August 7,1991

   Sometimes, the attendants around me hear things that the public don't. However, they took it for granted and didn't cherish it. When I repeated it to the public or gave a similar discourse later on, they thought, "Oh! I've heard that. Nothing special! This manner results in indolence and the lack of cherishing.

　As the Buddha's attendant, Ananda failed to attain enlightenment during his 25-year service. It was all due to his over-dependence. When the Buddha gave a speech somewhere, he could always hear what others couldn't. He learned everything by listening to the Buddha chatting with only a few persons or speaking to several hundred people. He was right beside the Buddha! However, later on, when someone asked the same question and the Buddha replied again before hundreds of thousands of people, Ananda thought, "Oh! I've memorized all this. I don't need to listen to it again. He didn't treasure it. Furthermore, while talking to the multitude, the Buddha's blessing power was different than when talking to one person. We receive double the blessing power for listening twice. Even though we've listened one hundred times, we've failed to assimilate it, not to mention listening just once.